Two decades ago, newspapers, Cheap Nike Free Run
television and radio were the main forms of media. How much the world has changed since then! Since the introduction of the world wide web into our lives, the way we interact with people and the way we look for information has changed drastically. Instead of writing letters, we now type emails. Instead of researching a topic in an encyclopaedia, we type our queries into Google and get our answers. The internet certainly has impacted our lives in a major way, and as such, companies have expanded their branding strategies to the world wide web.The emergence of social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter has revolutionised how we communicate and interact with each other. With more than 500 million members on Facebook, and 190 million Twitter members posting 65 million tweets a day, new social media has taken the world by storm. Companies recognise that this new media is very beneficial as it has a far reaching audience and with very little cost. As such, many brands have now launched their own pages on Facebook and Twitter to reach out to their target audience and also as a means of branding themselves as well. An important element of branding is creating an emotional connection between the consumer and the brand, and they are able to achieve this with new media. Consumers who visit their Facebook pages can view videos, read their updates and post on their wall, and read their tweets on Twitter. Consumers feel a close relationship with the brand, and thus this creates a strong emotional connection. Apart from that, brands are able to infuse its brandingNike Free
strategies in its Facebook and Twitter pages as a form of strengthening its brand. For example, they are able to distribute themselves better through new media. Instead of having limited exposure through billboards or newspapers, they can now gain worldwide exposure for free. It's no wonder that thousands of brands are jumping the bandwagon to use new media as a form of branding.As a consumer, I can attest that this branding approach has made an impact on me. I log on Twitter to read the tweets from my favourite brands, among them Nike. Nike has created separate pages for each category of sport, for example NikeFootball, NikeBasketball, NikeTennis and so forth. This enables them to reach out directly to their target audience and their target audience also prefers to read tweets about their favourite sport. This certainly is an ingenious branding strategy from Nike. And I love visiting McDonald's Facebook page because its interactive games have got me hooked! This makes me feel like Nike and McDonald's knowNike Free Run
exactly how to cater to my interests and therefore I certainly do feel an emotional bond with their brands.